The present invention relates to a holder for protection and handling of a brittle conductor. More particularly, the present invention relates to a holder for brittle superconductor elements.
Materials, such as ceramics, used in superconductor compositions have generally been found lacking in certain desirable physical properties; for example, they are brittle and lack tensile strength. This results in sensitivity of these materials to pulling and bending forces Thus, while these materials may some day revolutionize the conducting of electric power and the electronics and communications industries, it will be necessary to provide a holder which will protect and facilitate the handling and deployment of these relatively brittle conductors in buildings, and in underground or overhead installations.
During installation or manufacturing of these types of conductors, it is often necessary to impose various forces on the conductors during routing of the conductors Thus, conductors in use today are commonly pulled or pushed through conduits, and curved or bent during handling These forces, stresses and strains of normal handling, while fairly harmless to conventional conductors, could easily result in damage to a ceramic superconductor element.
Therefore, to commercialize ceramic superconductors in such installations, it is necessary to provide a holder which could protect such an element from the various stresses inherent in these installations.
Such a holder must, to be efficient in this use, not adversely interfere with the desirable properties of the ceramic superconductor elements or interfere with the necessary operating environment, while protecting the ceramic superconductor element from adverse handling conditions. Thus, the materials used in such a holder should be a poor conductor of heat and electricity, provide excellent tensile strength, be sufficiently resistant to bending and compression and be chemically unaffected by any cooling media utilized with the superconductor element, or material that would adversely affect the superconductor element.
Such a holder could advantageously provide an intimately associated conduit for a ceramic superconductor element or could be utilized in a larger conduit which may circulate cooling medium about the holder and superconductor element.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a ceramic superconductor element which will protect and insulate the superconductor element from forces encountered during handling and installation of the superconductor element, such as tensile forces due to pulling and pushing or bending of the holder and compressive forces imparted on the assembly.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide such a holder which will provide an adequate electrical and operating environment for the superconductor element.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a holder which will support the superconductor element in a temperature controlled environment for assisting in the temperature control of the superconductor element conduit.
It is still further an object of the present invention to provide a holder, that is used during the manufacture of the superconductor element, to reduce the amount of mechanical forces which must be withstood by the superconducting material.
In accordance with the above objectives there is provided in the present invention a holder for protection and handling of a brittle conductor. The holder includes a flexible housing for encompassing and protection of the brittle conductor and a means integral with the housing for resisting and isolating the brittle conductor from tensile forces exerted in an axial direction, from radially imposed forces and for providing a predetermined limited arcuate bending of the housing.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the subsequent description of the invention and the appended claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.